Offers new perspective on the historical position of his music - not merely due to national origins, but on its own merits

Includes new information from previously censored sources

A giant in the pantheon of 19th century composers, Tchaikovsky continues to enthrall audiences today. From the Nutcracker—arguably the most popular ballet currently on the boards—Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty, to Eugene Onegin and Pique Dame, to the Symphony Pathetique and the always rousing, canon-blasting 1812 Overture—this prolific and beloved composer's works are perennial favorites. Now, John Wiley, a renowned Tchaikovsky scholar, provides a fresh biography aimed in classic Master Musicians style at the student and music lover. Wiley deftly draws on
documents from imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet era sources, providing a more balanced look at recent controversies surrounding the marriage, death, and sexuality of the composer. The author dovetails the biographical material with separate chapters that treat the music thoroughly and fully, work-by-work, with more substantial explorations of Tchaikovsky's most familiar compositions. These analyses present new, even iconoclastic perspectives on the music and the composer's intent and expression. Several informative appendices, in the Master Musicians format, include an exhaustive list of works and bibliography.

Readership:
Students and scholars of 19th century music history, theater music, Russian studies.

Roland John Wiley, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

"the reader is granted a more detailed picture of Tchaikovsky's day-to-day life than has been achieved in any singly-colume biography of the composer to date" - Music and Letters

"An excellent, informative, often surprisingly moving book full of warmth and wisdom." - Classical Music

"The book is serious and valuable, and presents an excellent synthesis of scholarship that would otherwise almost certainly be inaccessible." - J.P.E. Harper-Scott, Times Literary Supplement

"This coolly magisterial book...builds up a picture of this profoundly conflicted man, and his wondrous music." - Michael Church, The
Independent on Sunday

Preface
1: Tchaikovsky's Early Years
2: Childhood and Youth in St Petersburg
3: Civil Service (1859 - 1863)
4: Tchaikovsky at the St Petersburg Conservatory
5: Tchaikovsky's First Years in Moscow
6: Music of the first five years
7: Before the Fall (1871-1877)
8: The Music of 1871-1877
9: 1877-the Year of Tchaikovsky's Marriage
10: The Music of 1877
11: 1878
12: The Music of 1878
13: 1879-1881
14: The Music of 1879-1881
15: 1882-1884
16: The Music of 1882-1884
17: 1885-1888
18: The Music of 1885-1888
19: The Years 1889-1893
20: The Music of 1889-1893
21: The Circumstances of Tchaikovsky's DeathAfterword
Appendix A. Calendar
Appendix B. List of Works
Appendix C. Personalia
Appendix D. Select BibliographyIndex

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.